Net Worth Advisory Group Lowers Stock Holdings in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Net Worth Advisory Group lowered its stake in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) by 7.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,592 shares of the company’s stock after selling 824 shares during the quarter. Net Worth Advisory Group’s holdings in Johnson & Johnson were worth $1,532,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 134,245,811 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,755,874,000 after purchasing an additional 1,154,088 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 56,106,884 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,064,149,000 after purchasing an additional 1,004,763 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,316,920 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,968,440,000 after purchasing an additional 1,265,748 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,187,082 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,630,216,000 after purchasing an additional 547,714 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 11.4% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 16,840,069 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,721,355,000 after purchasing an additional 1,729,281 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on JNJ. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research note on Monday. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $159.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $166.00 to $152.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Raymond James decreased their target price on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Johnson & Johnson presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $171.33.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Robert J. Decker sold 6,999 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.88, for a total transaction of $1,160,994.12. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 21,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,483,645.88. This represents a 25.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Timothy Schmid sold 403 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.15, for a total transaction of $62,928.45. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,357,552.70. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Johnson & Johnson Price Performance

Shares of JNJ stock opened at $167.57 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The company has a market capitalization of $403.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.47. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $153.44 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $156.28. Johnson & Johnson has a one year low of $140.68 and a one year high of $169.99.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $22.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.44 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 18.20% and a return on equity of 34.24%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.29 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.58 EPS for the current year.

Johnson & Johnson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $1.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.96%. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 74.59%.

About Johnson & Johnson

Johnson & Johnson is a holding company, which engages in the research, development, manufacture, and sale of products in the healthcare field. It operates through the Innovative Medicine and MedTech segments. The Innovative Medicine segment focuses on immunology, infectious diseases, neuroscience, oncology, cardiovascular and metabolism, and pulmonary hypertension.